37 Road Losses and a Pair of Green Skates: A Look at NHL Expansion Draft History
By Scott Cowan
On the night of the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft, let’s take a look at the history of Expansion Drafts in hockey.
On Wednesday night, the NHL will officially release the Seattle Kraken. With an NHL Expansion Draft like no other finally here, as the NHL’s newest franchise will begin to construct their roster for the 2021-22 season, fans, and analysts alike (including myself) are excited for the future of NHL hockey in Seattle.
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However, before we get to that point, let’s go back in time a bit, shall we?
It was October 6th, 2017. The Vegas Golden Knights were entering the third period in their first ever regular season game against the Dallas Stars, down 1-0. James Neal, a former 40-goal scorer with the Pittsburgh Penguins and consistent 20-goal threat, found himself entering the offensive zone on a delayed penalty.
Receiving a drop pass from defenseman Nate Schmidt, Neal let a wrister go from the slot which beat Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen for the Knights’ first ever goal. In spite of posting 25-19-44 totals over the course of Vegas’s inaugural 2017-18 season, as they made an unheard-of run to the Stanley Cup Final, Neal chose to head elsewhere come July 1st, signing with the Calgary Flames.
Since then, Neal has gone from being a reliable offensive threat to a stain on salary cap after salary cap, having been moved to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for another lengthy contract in Milan Lucic. After battling through injuries and poor performance in 2020-21, Neal’s future looks questionable, and a buyout seems to be on the cards. However, I feel as though that isn’t quite far enough, let’s go back a bit further.
While I could discuss Vegas’s first ever preseason goal, coming from undrafted acquisition Tyler Wong in what was a three-goal night, there isn’t really a whole lot of note to add. Wong was a talented over-ager coming out of the WHL, but simply never found his offensive touch in the AHL, ECHL, or to an extent in the KHL, where he continues to play for Kunlun Red Star. No, instead, let’s go back, to October 9th, 1974.